Fowlerichthys

Last updated

Fowlerichthys
Temporal range: Early Eocene to present
Frogfish ocellated.jpg
Ocellated frogfish (F. ocellatus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Lophiiformes
Family: Antennariidae
Subfamily: Fowlerichthyinae
Maile, Smith & Davis, 2025
Genus: Fowlerichthys
T. Barbour, 1941
Type species
Fowlerichthys floridanus
T. Barbour, 1941 [1]
Species

5, See below.

Synonyms

Fowlerichthys is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the subfamily Fowlerichthyinae. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

Fowlerichthys was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1941 by the American zoologist Thomas Barbour when he described Fowlerichthys floridanus, which he also designated as its type species. [1] F. floridanus is now considered a junior synonym of Antennarius radiosus, described in 1896 by Samuel Garman, with a type locality of Key West in Florida. [3] Some authorities classify this genus as belonging to the subfamily Antennariinae within the Antennariidae family. [4] However, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not recognise subfamilies within the Antennariidae, classifying the family within the suborder Antennarioidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. [5] In a 2025 phylogenetic study, it was found to form a distinct lineage from the other frogfishes, and was thus classified into its own subfamily Fowlerichthyinae, which was recognized by Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes . [2] [6] Fowlerichthyinae is thought to be the most basal lineage of the Antennariidae. [6]

A fossil relative, † Neilpeartia Carnevale et al., 2020 (named after Neil Peart), is known from the Early Eocene-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy, which is thought to be the sister genus to the extant Fowlerichthys. [7] The fossil species F. monodi is known from the Late Miocene of Algeria. [8]

Etymology

Fowlerichthys combines Fowler, honouring the American ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who gave Barbour the type specimen of F. floridanus, with ichthys, which means fish. [9]

Species

There are currently five recognized species in this genus: [10]

The fossil species † Fowlerichthys monodi (Carnevale & Pietsch, 2006) is known from the latest Miocene (Messinian) of Algeria. Previously, this species was described in the genus Antennarius on the basis of its apparent relation to the Senegalese frogfish, but was reclassified into Fowlerichthys following the reclassification of the latter species. [7] [8]

Characteristics

Fowlerichthys frogfishes have globose rather compressed bodies covered in densely set bifurcated spinules, with their eyes placed on the sides of the head. The upwardly pointing mouth has numerous small teeth. The illicium does not have a distinct esca, or lur, and any spinules on the illicium are located at its base or along its front edge. [11] The illicium is slightly shorter than the second dorsal spine present. The rear margins of the dorsal and anal fin membranes have a membrane connecting them to the body on front of the caudal peduncle. The dorsal fin has between 12 and 14 soft rays, all typically having a single fork, with the anal fin having between 7 and 10 similar rays. These are large frogfishes, [12] with the largest species being the ocellated frogfish (F. ocellatus), which has a maximum published total length of 38 cm (15 in). [10] In comparison, the smallest is the single-spot frogfish ( Fowlerichthys radiosus ), which has a maximum length of 25 cm (9.8 in). [11]

Distribution and habitat

Fowlerichthys frogfishes are found in the warmer waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, with two species, F. ocellatus and F. radiosus, in the Western Atlantic Ocean, one, F. senegalensis, in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, one F. scriptissimus, in the Indo-West Pacific and one in the Eastern Pacific, F. avalonis. [10] These fish are typically found in rocky and reef habitats, frequently in the intertidal zone, sometimes on sandy and muddy bottoms [13] [14] and one species, F. radiosus, on offshore banks and the deeper waters of the continental shelf. [15]

References

  1. 1 2 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Antennariidae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  3. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Fowlerichthys". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  4. ↑ Arnold, R. J.; R. G. Harcourt; and T. W. Pietsch (2014). "A new genus and species of the frogfish family Antennariidae (Teleostei: Lophiiformes: Antennarioidei) from New South Wales, Australia, with a diagnosis and key to the genera of the Histiophryninae". Copeia. 2014 (3): 534–539. doi:10.1643/CI-13-155.
  5. ↑ Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 508–518. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN   978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN   2015037522. OCLC   951899884. OL   25909650M.
  6. 1 2 Maile, Alex J.; Smith, W. Leo; Davis, Matthew P. (2025-05-02). "A total-evidence phylogenetic approach to understanding the evolution, depth transitions, and body-shape changes in the anglerfishes and allies (Acanthuriformes: Lophioidei)". PLOS ONE. 20 (5) e0322369. Bibcode:2025PLoSO..2022369M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322369 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   12047784 . PMID   40315280.
  7. 1 2 Carnevale, Giorgio; Pietsch, Theodore W.; Bonde, Niels; Leal, Maria E. C.; Marramà, Giuseppe (2020-03-03). "†Neilpeartia ceratoi, gen. et sp. nov., a new frogfish from the Eocene of Bolca, Italy". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (2) e1778711. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E8711C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1778711. ISSN   0272-4634.
  8. 1 2 Carnevale, G.; Pietsch, T. W. (25 October 2006). "Filling the gap: a fossil frogfish, genus Antennarius (Teleostei, Lophiiformes, Antennariidae), from the Miocene of Algeria" . Zoology. 270 (3): 448–457. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00163.x . Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  9. ↑ Christopher Scharpf (14 November 2022). "Order LOPHIIFORMES (part 1): Families LOPHIIDAE, ANTENNARIIDAE, TETRABRACHIIDAE, LOPHICHTHYIDAE, BRACHIONICHTHYIDAE, CHAUNACIDAE and OGCOCEPHALIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Fowlerichthys". FishBase . February 2024 version.
  11. 1 2 "Genus: Fowlerichthys, Frogfishes". Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute . Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  12. ↑ Theodore W Pietsch (2022). "Order Lophiiformes". In Phillip C Heemstra; Elaine Heemstra; David A Ebert; Wouter Holleman; John E Randall (eds.). Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean (PDF). Vol. 2. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. pp. 281–307. ISBN   978-1-990951-29-9.
  13. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Fowlerichthys ocellatus". FishBase . February 2024 version.
  14. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Fowlerichthys avalonis". FishBase . February 2024 version.
  15. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Fowlerichthys radiosus". FishBase . February 2024 version.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.